In 100 years, Kenyan president will be Asian

 XN Iraki 

A house in Nyandarua County formerly owned by a pioneer soldier settler General A.R Wainwright (1879-1970). [XN Iraki]

In a few days 2019 will be over. Instead of looking back at what has happened in the last one year, we can look 100 years into the past. Why limit ourselves? We can connect dots and explain how events that took place a century ago still reverberate to this day.

In 1919, WW I had just ended and soldiers were going back home. But the British soldiers took a longer route home, through Kenya and other colonies. It is the year when the first British soldier settlers arrived in Kenya and took up the ‘white highlands’.

There were pioneers like the missionaries and Afrikaan (Boers) before them. They found ‘empty land’ because they seemed oblivious of nomadism.

I would love to get a first-hand story from these soldiers; how did they survey the bush land, teeming with wildlife? Who made money from wildlife trophies? What did they think of the indigenous people such as the Maasai? How different were their views from those who encountered the Aborigines or Native Americans?

The new settlers tried to farm the land with all sorts of crops from wheat to barley and flax. But their mainstay seems to have been dairy, going by the number of Kenya Co-operative Creameries plants scattered around the country. They made cheese - but for curious reasons, we never developed love for it.

How did the new settlers decide where to live? They used lottery and history. They wanted land that resembled their homelands. If you have been to England, you will notice how a trip from Gatwick to London looks like Limuru to Nairobi.

Another factor less spoken about is the mosquito, which was rare in the white highlands. Global warming is real; mosquitoes are making it to the white highlands. We could add Trans Nzoia and Kericho area to the region.

Some Britons came through India and may have learnt something from there too. I have curiously noted a number owned two farms, one in the lowlands like Laikipia and another up the mountains like Aberdares. Did they borrow a leaf from the concept of summer palace in Srinagar, Northern India?

The settlers had to do a lot of improvisation, such as using mud to build their houses. One such house built by Geoffrey Buxton in 1906 still stands in Happy Valley, Nyandarua. They used shingles to roof their houses, trees were plenty.  But is improvisation not what soldiers are taught to do?

It was in 1919 that the first batch of Happy Valley residents arrived. They joined the rolling 20s which gave us jazz, the car, the movies, telephone, radio, aviation and electrical appliances. The Western world was ventilating after an exhausting WWI.

The rolling ended with the great depression of 1929. In Kenya, the rolling 20s went on till the mysterious death of Lord Errol in 1941.

One year later in 1920, Kenya became a colony. The events that followed reverberate to this day. The borders of Kenya colony and protectorate in 1919 remain the same. The political and economic systems set up by Britons have remained, with cross-pollination from other countries, particularly the USA.

We still see ourselves as tribes, not a nation, despite 125 years since Kenya became a protectorate in 1895. We are still superstitious with witchcraft mentioned often. We have never imbibed the ethos of capitalism, thinking money grows on trees and the related corruption.

We never learnt the value of work from 43 years of colonialism. After independence we have kept off work and still complain of lack of jobs and muted economic growth.

After 100 years, we replaced our traditional systems with a mix of old and new. Paradoxically we have decided to go Western full blast. The number of kids whose first language is English is on the rise. Few children can recall a proverb or a riddle from their community. What Britons tried to eliminate using education and religion, we are doing it ourselves willingly and with pride.

The truth is unlike USA that set up her own political and economic system after their independence. We are still experimenting. Do you recall Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” published the same year USA got her freedom? Globalisation found us still trying things out. We tried single party, command economy, harambee and African socialism.

China has found us trying things out. Without superordinate goals and national philosophy (what replaced Nyayo Philosophy?), we have become receptive to new forces, both economic and ideological. These new forces are replacing the shaky foundations of 1919 and 1920s and now shaping our new destiny.

External forces

We are now receptive to Eastern - read Chinese - economic ideas, but not their cultural ideas. We are still Western in thought and deed. With no ‘core owners’ like Western Anglo Saxon and Protestant (WASP) in USA or monarchy in UK, Kenya is now like the 1919 when anyone seeking adventure came calling. Which nationality is not in Kenya today?

One hopes this influx will dilute our local rivalries, bring diversity of ideas without unintended consequences to the indigenous people. Remember South America? Why has it not grown as fast as North America?

It is amazing that 100 years after the first soldier settlers landed ashore, we are still being shaped by external forces. Going by our hatred of new ideas except sensational ones like “twa twa”, we shall continue being shaped politically and economically by external forces.

Incidentally, our new constitution and BBI are very inward looking.

By 2063, 100 years after independence, Kenya will be a different country; more global and more South American with new owners. I will not be surprised if our president by then will be either an Asian or Caucasian. It is another question if we shall celebrate or weep over that.

The writer is Associate Professor at the University of Nairobi

SOURCE: STANDARD

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Fausta, 'world's oldest rhino', dies aged 57 in Tanzania

Black female rhino died of 'natural causes' in a sanctuary after living most of her life in wild.

The life expectancy of rhinos living in the wild is estimated to be between 37 and 43 years [File: Tom Kirkwood/Reuters]

A 57-year-old black rhino, believed to be the oldest in the world, has died in Tanzania, according to authorities in Ngorongoro where the animal was living.

The female rhino, named Fausta, died of what is believed to be natural causes on December 27 in a sanctuary, after living most of her life in the wild, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority said in a statement on Saturday.

"Records show that Fausta lived longer than any rhino in the world and survived in the Ngorongoro, free-ranging, for more than 54 years" before she was moved to a sanctuary in 2016, said the statement.

"Fausta was first located in the Ngorongoro crater in 1965 by a scientist from the University of Dar Es Salaam, at the age between three and four years," it added. 

"Her health begun to deteriorate in 2016, when we were forced to put the animal in captivity, after several attacks from hyena and severe wounds thereafter."

Sana, a female southern white rhino, aged 55, was considered the world's oldest white rhino when she died in captivity at the La Planete Sauvage Zoological park in France, in 2017.

Ngorongoro estimates the life expectancy of rhinos to be between 37 and 43 years in the wild, while they can live to older than 50 in captivity.

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Death toll: Somalia suicide car bomb attack rocks capital, killing dozens

By Omar Nor, Raja Razek and Lauren Said-Moorhouse

A soldier is seen next to the wreckage of car that was damaged during the suicide attack in Mogadishu on Saturday.

At least 79 people are dead and 149 more injured after a massive car bomb exploded at a busy intersection on the outskirts of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday, according to a government official.

Government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar also earlier told the media that the attacker drove his vehicle into the "Ex-control Afgoye" checkpoint, a well-known junction that links the south of Somalia to the capital.

Mukhtar added that university students were among the dead.

The attack happened during rush hour in the Somali capital at about 8 a.m. local time, and civilians and soldiers are among the dead, police said.

Police conduct security searches at the checkpoint, but there is also a taxation office located nearby and the area is heavily populated with civilians and security forces.

Nurses from Mogadishu's Madina Hospital push a wounded person on a stretcher.

Police have warned that the death toll could rise as many of the wounded have been rushed to hospitals.

Images from the scene showed multiple wrecked vehicles with shards of twisted metal nearby as well as a minibus marked with blood.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed two Turkish citizens had died in the attack.

"May Allah's mercy be upon our 2 citizens and innocent Somali brothers&sisters who lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attack," Çavuşoğlu wrote on his Twitter account. He added Turkey would continue to stand with Somalia in the fight against terror.

Saturday's attack came two weeks after at least five people were killed in a seven-hour battle at a hotel popular with lawmakers and security officials in the Somali capital.

In February, the group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a car bombing at a crowded shopping mall that left at least 10 dead. It was also behind three car bombings last November that killed at least 52 people with about 100 more injured.

It is just the latest in a string of attacks in recent years in the Horn of Africa nation, many of which have been claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist militant group.

Following is a list of some of the deadliest since the Shabaab were ousted from Mogadishu in 2011:

– 2019

– March 1:

At least 20 people are killed in a siege in Mogadishu, which saw Al-Shabaab insurgents battling security forces for nearly 24 hours. The attack began on February 28 with a car bomb blast at a major hotel, then other fighters stormed a building housing a restaurant.

– 2018

– December 22:

A double car-bomb attack near the presidential palace in Somalia kills 20. November 9: Twin car bombings and a suicide attack near a popular hotel in Mogadishu frequented by politicians claim the lives of at least 41 people.

February 23:

At least 38 people are killed in two car bomb attacks targeting the presidential palace and a hotel in the capital. They are claimed by Shabaab.

– 2017

– October 28:

A car bomb explodes outside the entrance of the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2 in the north of the capital, followed by a minibus loaded with explosives going off at a nearby intersection. Five gunmen then rush into the hotel where security services kill two attackers and three others are captured. At least 27 people are killed in the attack, claimed by the Shabaab. The police chief and head of intelligence lose their jobs.

October 14:

A truck packed with explosives blows up in Hodan, a bustling commercial district in the city’s northwest, killing 512 people and injuring 295. There is no claim of responsibility.

February 19:

A car bomb explodes in a busy intersection in Mogadishu, killing 39 people. No one claims responsibility but it takes place as Shabaab fighters threaten a “vicious war” against the new Somali president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

January 25:

At least 28 people die in a coordinated attack involving two car bombs and an armed assault by Shabaab fighters on the Dayah Hotel near the Somali parliament and state house.

– 2016

– December 11:

More than 20 people are killed when a truck loaded with explosives blows up near the capital’s port in an attack claimed by Shabaab.

February 29:

At least 30 people are killed and about 60 are wounded in twin bombings in the southwestern city of Baidoa, claimed by the Shabaab.

– 2015

– February 20:

A twin suicide attack by Shabaab fighters on the Central Hotel kills at least 25 people, including two MPs.

– 2013

– April 14:

A nine-man suicide attack squad blasts its way into Mogadishu’s main court complex in a rampage that leaves 29 civilians dead, while a separate bomb attack kills five more.

– 2012

– January 24:

The Shabaab claims a suicide attack that kills 33 soldiers at a military base housing Ethiopian peacekeeping troops in central Somalia.

– 2011

– October 4:

At least 82 people die and 150 are injured in a truck bombing at the ministerial complex of the transitional government. It is the first attack claimed by the Shabaab since it was pushed out of Mogadishu.

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Sudan after Bashir: 'The revolution is on the curriculum'

By targeting refugees and migrants, Sudan's new rulers are betraying the popular revolt that brought them to power.

By Magdi el-Gizouli & Abraham T Zere

 

Irregular migrants wait to be transported after being arrested by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Khartoum State border, Sudan. September 25, 2019 [Mohamed N Abdallah/Reuters]

 Sudan's new rulers are celebrating the first anniversary of the popular revolt that led to the military overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir and their rise to power. Politicians from the transitional government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok are spending their days giving broadcast interviews in which they indulge in political subtleties, pleasant anecdotes, fiery condemnations of the old regime and promises of a better future for Sudan. Meanwhile, however, police squads are working with the force and animosity of the old to clear the city of alleged "polluters and elopers".

Since the first week of December, the police have been given license to round up the poorest and most vulnerable of Khartoum's refugee and migrant residents. Eritrean, Ethiopian and Syrian refugees and migrants are now open game for a demoralised and ill-reputed police force eager to reclaim its diminished authority following a popular uprising it failed to prevent. They are arrested and then forced to bail themselves out of detention by paying hefty fines ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 Sudanese pounds ($1,100-2,200) in what can only be described as an extortion campaign. 

Those who experience the most abuse are the ones who are at the very bottom of the pecking order: Eritreans who have nothing and are in constant search of work as day labourers and domestic workers.

The victimisation and abuse of migrants and refugees in Sudan is nothing new. It has happened in the past and was intensified after the EU concluded a migration agreement with al-Bashir. However, it is disappointing that it continues to happen today in revolutionary Sudan.

Impoverished refugees and migrants from the Abyssinian Peninsula, many undocumented and effectively stateless, started arriving in urban Sudan in the second half of the 1960s, fleeing persecution, guerrilla warfare and military conscription. The number of refugees from the region soared yet again in the 1980s as the 1984-85 famine drove more than 300,000 herders and farmers from the Abyssinian Peninsula into eastern Sudan. Throughout the 1990s, thousands more sought refuge in Sudan to escape the armed conflict, forced military conscription and immiseration which followed Eritrea's declaration of independence.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, there are more than 123,000 Eritrean refugees currently residing in Sudan, the majority of whom confined to remote camps in Kassala State along Sudan's border with Eritrea. In Khartoum, most Eritreans are settled either in the neighbourhood of al-Deim, which was partially vacated after local skilled labourers left to seek employment in booming Gulf countries in the 1970s, or in the densely populated working-class areas such as al-Sahafa, Greif East and West and al-Kalakla. 

With or without documentation, they are generally subject to recurrent waves of harassment and violence from the Sudanese authorities and are at considerable risk of human trafficking. Women and girls, meanwhile, face the added threat of sexual exploitation. 

Short of options, many Eritreans in Sudan turn to smuggling networks in a desperate attempt to reach Europe and find safety there. Very few of them, however, actually make it into Europe. At the height of the migration push towards Europe in 2015 about 40,000 Eritreans managed to reach the shores of Greece, Italy and Spain. The UN estimates that approximately 400,000 Eritreans have fled the country in recent years at a rate of 4,000 a month - almost 9 percent of the country's total population.

With the 2014 "Khartoum Process", the EU outsourced the task of "managing" migrants seeking to reach Europe through the horn of Africa migration route to regional state and non-state actors in exchange for financial support. Al-Bashir's regime was eager, if not thrilled to provide its services to help the EU externalise its border well into Khartoum's al-Deim and al-Kalakla neighbourhoods. 

Implementation of the EU's border externalisation policy was entrusted to Sudan's security authorities and militias, including the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo "Himedti". While these arrangements were given benign-sounding labels such as the "High-Level Dialogue on Migration with Sudan" and the "Better Migration Management" (BMM) programme, they, in essence, marked the beginning of a militarised campaign to apprehend and punish migrants. 

In the summer of 2016, following the start the EU's so-called High-Level Dialogue on Migration with the Sudanese authorities, RSF units were deployed to northern Sudan to patrol the areas near the country's borders with Egypt and Libya. In early 2018, the RSF's migration control operation was extended to eastern Sudan along the country's border with Eritrea. Inevitably, RSF units turned the task of "managing" migrants into another lucrative trade, intercepting, taxing and releasing smugglers and migrants repeatedly along the desert route. 

This summer, after ignoring the crimes against refugees and migrants committed in its name for years, the EU was finally forced to announce the suspension of its migration-related security cooperation projects in Sudan, following a barrage of criticism regarding the role EU-supported militias and security forces have played in the attempts to violently suppress the anti-government protests that rocked the country throughout 2018.

It has widely been documented that RSF troops, among other atrocities, were responsible for the violent June 3 crackdown at a protest camp in Khartoum that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people and the wounding of nearly 400. 

In the post-truth world that we inhabit, however, RSF commander Himedti asserted recently said that his troops "did not massacre protesters in Khartoum", but "some imposters who were actually planning a coup".

Himedti's attempts to whitewash the actions of his troops, however, are aimed at more than just saving himself. He is hoping to reinstate the partnership between the militia he controls and the EU states who are still desperate to keep refugees and migrants away from their borders. 

On December 1, RSF Spokesman Jamal Jumaa doubled down on the efforts to reinstate the partnership between the EU and the infamous militia, by publicising the group's alleged past successes in apprehending migrants. After boasting that the RSF arrested some 2,500 migrants in 2016-17, he declared that the group is still willing and ready to cooperate and coordinate with the international community to put an end to undocumented migration flows. 

The continuing campaign of harassment and abuse against refugees and migrants in greater Khartoum should be viewed within this greater context of militias and security forces wanting to continue their lucrative collaboration with western nations to stamp out Europe-bound migration. But, sadly, militias are not the only ones keen on Sudan's brutal and inhumane fight against irregular migration to continue. The new rulers of Sudan also seem happy to use and abuse migrants and refugees in the country for their own benefit.  

On November 11, the transitional government's Minister of Trade and Industry Madani Abbas Madani issued a decree prohibiting foreigners from engaging in business activities in Sudan. The blanket order prohibits all foreigners from engaging in trade, but exempts foreign investors operating under the Investment Act or special agreements signed between their governments and Sudanese authorities.

The decree is a haphazard effort by the transitional government to stabilise the country's struggling economy by "Sudanising" business and stopping the profits generated there from leaving the country. But in its current form, the decree not only fails to address the Sudanese economy's many problems, it also scapegoats migrants and refugees as the only ones responsible for the country's economic woes. 

The ministerial campaign against "foreigners" fails to stop the voluminous profits of Gulf-owned agro-businesses, telecommunication firms and commercial enterprises from being funnelled out of the country. 

Instead, it targets refugees and migrants who are working in Sudan as petty traders, shopkeepers, food-sellers and peddlers. The security forces interpret the decree to be even broader in scope and use it as a carte blanche to target any foreigner who is trying to make a living in Sudan. 

As a result, now all refugees and migrants who work as labourers, handymen, barbers, rickshaw drivers and domestic workers are under attack in Sudan. It remains a mystery, however, how punishing Eritrean domestic workers and shopkeepers is supposed to help save the national economy.

Destitute Eritreans, who are now the main targets of the continuing crackdown for lack of agency do not expect any help from their government. Separate Sudanese delegations led by Prime Minister Hamdok and Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Himedti visited Eritrea in November. President Isaias Afwerki, who had a rather mercurial relationship with al-Bashir, is now courting the two forces separately for his own ends; he is unlikely to bring up the victimisation of his own people with the Sudanese government.

Sudan's new ministers were raised to their positions of power by a resolute revolutionary surge infused with passionate patriotism. Some of the Eritrean residents of the country, now hounded by the police, also joined the protest movement promising their own dictator a day of reckoning.

In al-Deim, the resistance committee activists who defeated former president al-Bashir's security apparatus reportedly protected Eritrean migrants from the police onslaught. The solidarity on display is a cherished lesson of Sudan's revolutionary season and it is today an urgent duty of its champions - a test of their fidelity to the ideals that motivated the uprising against former President al-Bashir. 

Sudan's protest movement is grounded in the agonies of the downtrodden and it benefitted from an Internationale of solidarity. Absent the solidarity that protects vulnerable refugees and migrants, the lofty patriotism of its heroes is at risk of being transcribed into a rhetoric of chauvinism and racial hierarchy.

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Rwanda Blockchain School to Launch in 2020 for Devs, Professionals

By Marie Huillet

The Africa Blockchain Institute (ABI) will open Rwanda’s ostensibly first blockchain school in 2020, offering five new courses for local developers, professionals and policymakers.

In an interview with Cointelegraph on Dec. 26, ABI Executive Director, Kayode Babarinde, revealed that the new school has five key courses in the pipeline: a blockchain essentials certification course, a blockchain developers’ course, an enterprise blockchain course, blockchain for lawyers and blockchain for impact.

Groundwork laid in Ghana

Babarinde told Cointelegraph that the ABI laid the foundation for its work in Rwanda by running a pilot phase for the school in Ghana, where it launched the inaugural class for a blockchain essentials certification course. 

While the five course areas had already been broadly sketched out ahead of the pilot in Ghana, the school’s curriculum has now been rehauled and updated on the basis of the responses and experiences of course participants.

Babarinde said that the support and cooperation of the Blockchain DLT Rwanda Association, and its chairman, Norbert Haguma, has been a key factor in its decision to launch the school in the country. 

More broadly, he characterized the local context as being highly conducive for investments in new technologies:

“Every technology company is looking for an enabling environment to serve the continent. This means supportive policies, resource management, and visibility for the market. All these make Rwanda stand out in Africa.”

While noting the need to foster the development of blockchain implementations locally, Babarinde said this should not imply an aversion to cooperating with overseas initiatives in the sector.  

As an emerging technology with a still growing community, international collaboration and partnerships remain key to sustaining the adoption of blockchain across the continent, he said.

Regulatory cooperation

Alongside education, part of the ABI’s core activities is the development of recommendations for strengthening Africa’s regulatory framework for blockchain and cryptocurrencies, in close cooperation with the Blockchain DLT Rwanda Association.

Babarinde noted that a robust regulatory framework will be key to reducing the traction of cryptocurrency-related scams, alluding to recent “unsolicited activities” in East Africa. Earlier this month, the blockchain associations of Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya issued a joint statement warning the public against these risks.

This summer, the president of Uganda officiated the 2019 Africa Blockchain Conference, where he identified agriculture, manufacturing and processing, services, and ICT sectors as key economic areas that stand to benefit from the technology’s implementation.

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Islamic State Group In Nigeria Reportedly Executes Christian Hostages

 

Nigerian soldiers are on patrol in October, after gunmen suspected of belonging to the Islamic State West Africa Province group raided the village of Tungushe, killing a soldier and three residents.

An affiliate of the Islamic State says it executed 11 Christians in Nigeria in retaliation for the killings of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his spokesman earlier this year, according to Agence France-Presse.

The terrorist group released a video on Thursday through its online news agency, Telegram, that reportedly shows masked militants from the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) shooting and stabbing 11 blindfolded men, the AFP and Reuters report.

ISWAP is an offshoot of terror group Boko Haram and declared its loyalty to ISIS in 2016. The group is now the most prominent Islamist terrorist group in the region, with more than three times as many fighters as the next-largest Islamic State faction in Egypt, according to research by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

Reuters reports that the group also claimed responsibility for an attack on a military outpost in Burkina Faso earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the United Nations released a statement condemning the group for increasingly targeting civilians, including Christians, aid workers and security officials, in northeastern Nigeria.

ISWAP is known for abducting aid workers in the region, the BBC reported. Two midwives working for the International Committee for the Red Cross were taken hostage and later killed by the group in October.

ISWAP's attack on Christians this week is suspected to have been planned to coincide with Christmas. "This is a message to Christians all over the world," said a masked man in the video, according to the AFP. The man went on to say that the killings were carried out in order to exact revenge for the deaths of Baghdadi and ISIS spokesman Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir.

In October, U.S. special forces conducted a raid on Baghdadi's compound in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib that resulted in the ISIS leader's death. Muhajir was killed later the same day in a U.S. airstrike near the Syria-Turkey border.

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Best African contemporary art fairs of 2020

From South Africa to Morocco, fairs including new and established creatives are drawing art lovers and buyers alike.

By Allyssia Alleyne

African art has been having a very long moment. Over the past 10 years, contemporary artists from the continent - from the Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui to Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu to South African photographer Zanele Muholi - have continued to build their names on the international stage.

African artists have been presenting in major museums and galleries across Europe and the United States, while increasing numbers of African countries have shown at the prestigious Venice Biennale, including Ghana's critically-acclaimed debut this year.

Both Sotheby's and Bonhams auction houses meanwhile have set up their own African contemporary and modern art departments, signalling that the market is paying attention, too. 

"Going into the new decade, I feel we are starting from a stronger foothold," said Marwan Zakhem, the founder of Gallery 1957, in Ghana's capital, Accra. "The international art scene has woken up to the wealth of creativity offered across Africa and the diaspora," Zakhem told Al Jazeera.

"A lot of groundwork has been made in terms of affirming African art as a key component of the ever-flourishing arts scene, so it's an exciting time to be a part of it".

Indigogo 4 (2018), by Stacey Gillian Abe [Courtesy of Stellenbosch Triennale] 

What is most notable, however, is the growth seen within the continent. Addressing a crippling lack of infrastructure that has previously forced talent to look elsewhere for opportunity and support, major cities are bolstering their local scenes while establishing themselves as international art destinations.

Art fairs have popped up to seduce collectors, new residences have given creatives spaces to develop their craft and museums such as Cape Town's Zeitz MOCAA and the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Marrakech have opened to showcase the best on offer.

"There's still more to be done though," Zakhem said. "I hope the decade ahead sees more continent-wide investment in the visual arts - more museums, more projects, more educational support - and more events bringing international visitors here."

As the year - and the decade - draws to a close, here are four African art events to watch out for in 2020 and beyond.

Marrakech enters new decade as first African Capital of Culture

Thanks to the opening of MACAAL, 2018's inaugural Moroccan edition of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair and the commercial success of artists such as Hassan Hajjaj - the subject of a recent retrospective at Paris's Maison Europeenne de la Photographie - Marrakech has become a major draw for critics and collectors.

As 2020's African Capital of Culture - the first city to hold the designation - it will no doubt be increasing its efforts to engage art lovers and buyers alike.

Carolle Benitah's Le Reve des Amants is one of the works that will be on show at 1:54 [Courtesy of Galerie 127]

 "Over the last five years, Marrakech has struck an excellent balance in preserving and building on its rich cultural histories, while establishing itself as a space for artistic experimentation. Alongside this, there is a growing number of commercial spaces and both independent and government funding, giving artists more opportunities to support their practices in the long term," said 1:54 founder Touria El Glaoui. 

"I grew up in Morocco and my father [Hassan El Glaoui] was a painter who always encouraged us to engage with art histories, so seeing the scene grow and blossom has been amazing to witness."

In February, 1:54 will return to the city's luxurious La Mamounia hotel for the third year, hosting some 20 European and African galleries. At the same time, MACAAL, the Muse Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech and other local spaces will be staging their own exhibitions, creating an unofficial art week of sorts. 

How the rest of the year shapes up will surely set the template for how future cities make use of the Capital of Culture designation. 

Art X Lagos celebrates five years

The birthplace of art stars including Ben Enwonwu - whose Tutu, dubbed the African Mona Lisa, sold for a record $1.6m in 2018 - Victor Ehikhamenor and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Nigeria is an obvious choise to be the home of West Africa's first international art fair: Art X Lagos. 

Launched in 2016 by entrepreneur Tokini Peterside, Art X Lagos serves as an exhibition space, marketplace and classroom for those looking to immerse themselves in the world of contemporary African art.

Art X Lagos supports emerging artists by showing their work and awarding a prize to a promising up-and-comer [Courtesy of Art X Lagos] 

It is also notable for prioritising younger artists over established pioneers through both its exhibitions and the Access Bank ART X Prize, which awards one emerging artist with funding, mentoring and an international residency.

"I see how wonderful and massive [Art X Lagos] is becoming and I think it's placing Lagos as a real arts hub, which I really love, and a serious one," said Adora Mba, the founder of the Afropolitan Collector, an art advisory platform.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how big it can go."

Dak'Art Biennale returns

Of all Africa's major art events, few rouse as much enthusiasm and respect as Senegal's Dakar Biennale, commonly known as Dak'Art.

"It always brings together the best of the African art community to show brilliant work, engage in important dialogues and, of course, celebrate," said Gallery 1957's Zakhem. 

"It always outdoes itself," agreed Mba, for whom Dak'Art is the ultimate place to discover new talent and up-and-comers. "I don't even know how they keep producing such amazing art and artists and bringing people in." 

The Dakar Biennale is West Africa's pre-eminent art event [File: Carley Petesch/AP Photo]

Supported by the country's Ministry of Culture and Communication, the 14th edition will centre on the theme of I'Ndaffa/Forger/Out of Fire - a trilingual take on the word "forge" in Serer, French and English.

"This general theme refers to the founding act of African creation, which nourishes the diversity of contemporary African creativity, while projecting new ways of telling and understanding Africa," Artistic Director El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, a curator at Dakar's Theodore Monod Museum of African Art, said in a statement. 

"It represents the dynamics and action of creating, recreating and kneading. It thus refers to the forge that transforms, the deposit from which the raw material comes, and to the fire that creates."

This year's event will be held from May 28 to June 28.

South Africa's wine region invites the art world in

Africa may not lead the world in terms of the number of major art events held annually, but there is no shortage of arts professionals looking to add to the tally. 

To that end, the Stellenbosch Triennale, conceived by the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust, will make its debut in South Africa in February.

Breaking with convention, the event is more about engaging the community than appealing to art world insiders. 

Stellenbosch will hold its debut Triennale, including works from arts such as Kelvin Haizel [Courtesy of Stellenbosch Triennale]

On their website, organisers say they plan to turn the city into a "curated public laboratory for creative expressions and engagements" where all are invited to interrogate our relationship with nature, the limits of technology and the definition of citizenship.

Works will be displayed at sites across the historic city, and there will also be opportunities to continue the conversation in workshops and online. 

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Madagascar’s Filatex seeks finance for African solar power expansion

By David Whitehouse

Solar panels operated by Filatex. Photo supplied by the company.

Filatex of Madagascar aims to enter the solar power markets in Ghana, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Mauritius in 2020, CEO Hasnaine Yavarhoussen and COO George Condé tell The Africa Report in an interview.

The family-owned real-estate company is in advanced talks to enter all four countries, where it plans up to a total of 150MW of solar capacity for an investment of $150m, the executives say. Technical analysis of possible sites has been carried out in the target countries, they add.

Bank talks

The planned investment would be 80% funded by bank debt, with 20% in equity. Filatex is in discussions with banks to secure the debt portion, the executives say. The operations in each country are planned to run on a project-finance basis, meaning that the individual project, rather than the company, would assume the debt.

Plans are most advanced in Ghana, where total capacity could rise to as much as 100MW. The company is considering a possible acquisition of 15MW in Mauritius, Condé says. Timelines for achieving profitability will be different for each project.

Unexplored potential

The company believes that solar development plans worth billions have left a wide choice of medium-sized solar projects in Africa underexplored. Filatex, which has “low” but undisclosed levels of debt, targets projects in the 5MW to 100MW range. On 18 December, the company announced a 50MW solar energy project in Madagascar in partnership with Canada’s DERA Energy.

The project will reduce electricity costs in mining and agriculture and will produce power at about $1m/MW, in line with industry norms, Condé says.

The project is fully funded with bank debt and equity financing of $50m.

It will bring electricity to nearly 1 million people in four cities, and the company expects all of the panels, supplied by Canadian Solar, to be in place by the end of 2020.

Electricity access

The company says that the partnership will benefit state-owned electric utility company Jirama, which will be able to cut costs by up to 40% and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Just 15% of Madagascar’s population has access to energy, falling to 4% in rural areas.

According to Lighting Africa, this is largely due to low population density outside urban zones.

The World Bank’s Doing Business report for 2018 ranked Madagascar 184th out of 190 countries for access to electricity.

Yet the resources exist for the country to close the gap with the sub-Saharan average. Madagascar has 2,800 hours of sunlight per year and potential annual capacity of 2,000 kWh/m². The country aims to extend access to energy to 70% of the population by 2030.

Filatex says it is still looking for new technical partners. “Madagascar can export its know-how,” Yavarhoussen explains. “If we can do it in Madagascar, we can do it abroad.”

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2 U.S senators banned from entering Philippines

Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte

Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte has banned two U.S senators from entering the country, and threatened to require all U.S citizens to apply for a visa, his spokesman said on Friday.

Duterte immediately ordered the Bureau of Immigration to deny U.S Senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy entry to the Philipines, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

The two senators had introduced a provision in the U.S national budget prohibiting the entry in the United States of Philippine government officials involved in the alleged wrongful detention of opposition Senator Leila de Lima on illegal drug charges.

“Should a ban from entry into U.S territory be enforced against Philippine officials involved in – or by reason of Senator de Lima’s lawful imprisonment.

“ This government will require all Americans intending to come to the Philippines to apply and secure a visa before they can enter Philippine territory,’’ Panelo said.

He noted that Durbin and Leahy were imperious, uninformed and gullible for believing that de Lima was wrongfully imprisoned.

“The case of Senator de Lima is not one of persecution but of prosecution, he said.

“In fact, it is already being heard by our courts.’’

De Lima has been detained since February 2017 over allegations she received payoffs from jailed illegal drug lords when she was head of the Department of Justice.

She has denied the allegations, and accused the Duterte administration of political persecution.

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Malaria kills 95,844 in Nigeria annually – NMEP

By Gabriel Olawale

The National Coordinator of the National Malaria Elimination Programme, NMEP, Dr. Audu Bala Mohammed has disclosed that  malaria kills an estimated 95,844 Nigerians and infects 57 million annually.

This burden, he noted, occurs despite efforts by the government at all levels, the private sector and the international community, to stem the tide of malaria in the country.

Mohammed said Nigeria accounts for 53 percent of malaria cases in West Africa and 25 percent of the global malaria burden, noting that: “Nigeria contributes more that 45 percent malaria deaths in West Africa which kills about 11 people per hour.”

Speaking during the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa end of year members meeting, Mohammed who was represented by the Director, Advocacy, Communication and social Mobilisation of NMEP, Chukwu Okoronkwo noted that Nigeria requires  additional $551,354,810 million for procurement of intervention commodities to tackle the menace between 2018 and 2020.

He, however, said from 2010 to 2018, there had been a steady decline in malaria-related deaths from 145,000 to the current figure of 95, 844.

Due to financial incapacity, the NMEP boss admitted that intervention had not been on any significant scale in 13 states of the federation, adding that government and development partners had only met about 50 per cent of the required $551,354,810.

Consequently, Mohammed said government had approached some lending institutions, including the World Bank, African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), to raise some financial instruments to address the gaps in some of the identified states.

“Implications of unfilled gaps include risk of increased malaria morbidity and mortality, threat of a weakened work force with decreased productivity with consequences on development, loss of confidence in public health programs among others.”

Corroborating his views, Access Bank Head of Sustainability and Corporate Communications, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan urged Nigerians not to take malaria for granted.

“If you feel feverish please go to the hospital to be sure whether its malaria or not. let the test determine whether or not and in case you are positive comply with medication prescription.

She called for commitment of more resources to malaria prevention through advocacy and other intervention.

On her part, Country Manager, Nigeria, GBCHealth CAMA, Ochuko Keyamo-Onyige said that the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa, CAMA comprise of diverse coalition of companies with interests in Africa, “A GBCHealth-led initiative, CAMA channels the collective force of the private sector to drive impactful partnerships for malaria control and elimination in Africa from workplaces to communities.

“Our strategic plan for 2020-2022 is to accelerate the pace of malaria elimination by focusing on five critical areas which are promote and support business on workplace and community programs, policy and advocacy, partnerships, expand work in high-burden countries, communication and membership.”

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